title: Photolysis triggered sealing of multilayer capsules to entrap small molecules.
abstract: Novel microcapsule systems containing UV-responsive diazonium groups were fabricated as microcontainers for cargo substance encapsulation by using a layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly technique. Upon direct exposure to UV light with a wavelength of approximately 380 nm, the diazonium groups of diazoresion (DAR) rapidly reacted with sulfonate or diazo-sulfonate groups of counterpart polyelectrolytes, which converted electrostatic interactions to covalent bonds, demonstrating an effective in situ cross-linking within multilayers via photolysis. Such chemical transition eliminated the paired ionic groups, therefore generating more hydrophobic multilayer shells, offering a unique approach to seal the porous polyelectrolyte capsule shells. Fluorescent molecule rhodamine B (RhB) was consequently studied as a typical example for small molecule encapsulation. Results indicated that the dye was remarkably retained within the microcapsules after UV-triggered capsule shell sealing.
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom. q.yi@qmul.ac.uk
authors.forename: Qiangying
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Gleb B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Sukhorukov